recent price factors in the U.S.
click chart to enlargeGlobal supply and demand for crude oil and petroleum products has the biggest influence on the price of gasoline at the pump in the U.S.
- For June 2008, crude oil costs made up 74 percent of the cost of every gallon of gasoline.
- Sixteen percent of recent gas prices were for refining, transportation and marketing. Federal, state and local taxes accounted for about 10 percent of the price.
- Americans are driving less. Motor gasoline consumption in the U.S. averaged 9.3 million barrels per day in June, down by 2.1 percent from June 2007. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is now projecting that total U.S. petroleum consumption will decrease by 400,000 barrels per day in 2008.
- The industry has increased refining capacity through the expansion of existing plants, adding the equivalent of a large new refinery every year for the past decade. Capacity has expanded over the past two years by 300,000 barrels a day, according to the American Petroleum Institute.
- Since 1995, ExxonMobil has effectively added the equivalent refining capacity of a new, industry-average-size refinery to our worldwide portfolio every three years.